BANGOR– Houlton Shiretowners girls basketball team won the class C state championship last year. This year, they will try to win the class B state championship after defeating Hermon 51-35 in the class B north regional final on Saturday afternoon at the Cross Insurance Center.
“This was the goal, we were shooting for a top four spot in class B and let the chips fall as they fall, “Houlton coach Shawn Graham said. “I have a group that believes every time they step in the floor that they can win, you can’t teach that.”
Houlton went on an 11-2 run early in the second half to take a 41-29 lead. The lead didn’t go below nine the rest of the way. The Shiretowners outscored Hermon 24-12 in the second half.
“We have always been a second half team, so we knew we had to come out hard, “Houlton senior guard Natalie Hill said. “We win games with our defense. We were really not playing good defense in the first half, we came out strong in the second half.”
Things may have seemed easier for the Shiretowners, but they had to battle adversity when one of their leaders went down with a season ending injury early in the season. Senior Katie Condon went down with an injury, Houlton lost a game at MDI following the injury on December 19th.
“We rearranged our whole offense, I think that is why we got messed up at MDI,”Houlton sophomore forward Kolleen Bouchard said. “We lost Katie (Condon) and our whole offense changed completely. Aspen Flewelling took on a huge role for us.”
Hill added, “we had to have Aspen (Flewelling) stepped up. She has been doing a great job. She has had a bunch of boards. She has hit some big threes.”
With Condon out, Bouchard had to be more of a low post player. That worked well as the Shiretowners have now won 16 straight since the loss against MDI in mid Decmeber.
“We restructured our entire offense, we like Kolleen around the perimeter because she attacks the basket so well,”Graham said. “We had to make some adjustments and move her around a little bit down in the low post because Flewelling is a totally different play than Condon.”
Bouchard led the Shiretownees with 19 points, seven rebounds, five blocks, three assists, and three steals. Hill added 16 points and six rebounds. Flewelling chipped in with eight points, five rebounds, and two assists. Kristen Graham scored five points, while Rylee Warman made a three pointer. Houlton (20-1) will take on Gray-New Gloucester in the class B state game at the Cross Insurance Center on Friday, February 26th at 7:05 p.m.
Hermon defeated number two seed MDI in a quarterfinal game, and number three seed Presque Isle in a semifinal game. Hermon finishes the season with a 13-9 record.
“We knew they (Hermon) were going to be tough. They never give up and they are at their best right now,”Bouchard said, “We knew they were going to come out firing. They did, we adjusted and came back.”
Graham added, “Hermon has been fabulous the second half of the season. They have got better each and every game. We took a close look at their high/low game that they crucified Presque Isle with. We played a triangle and two, put one in front, one in back, and tried to deny the high post.”
Emi Higgins led the Hawks with 11 points and six rebounds. Alex Allain scored eight first quarter points. Bryanne Crouse scored seven points, while Allessa Oakes filled up the stat sheet with three points, seven rebounds, and three assists.
